Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa, alias Yasin Bhatkal, was produced by NIA officials before the court of First Additional Metropolitan Session Judge here this afternoon amid tight security, which earlier sent him in judicial remand till October 17.

The NIA counsel then moved a police custody petition seeking custodial interrogation of Bhatkal (who has been named as an accused in the cases) alleging the funding for the terror operation was routed through hawala transactions and there was a need to identify the members of this hawala racket and it was possible to get these details only through his custodial interrogation.

To know the hawala racket and the source of explosives, there was a need to take him (Yasin Bhatkal) to various places across the country after taking him into custody, the police petition said.

The move came a day after a court in eastern China sentenced Bo to life in prison for bribe-taking, embezzlement and abuse of power. Besides the life sentence, he was stripped of political rights and his assets were seized.

He received the life sentence for bribe-taking, 15 years for embezzlement and seven years for abuse of power. Bo, 64, has appealed his verdict and sentencing, a source with direct knowledge of the case was quoted as saying by the CNN.

Bo -- a former rising political star, fell from power amid a scandal involving murder, betrayal and financial skullduggery. Reports say that Bo has informed the court about his decision to go on an appeal to a higher court.

According to Chinese law he could appeal to the higher court in the province whose judgement will be final. Analysts say that the life sentence ensures that Bo, who headed pro-Maoist faction in the ruling Communist Party of China, will not have chance to come out of the prison until the scheduled retirement of President Xi Jinping in 2022.

"Pakistani troops have engineered over 120 ceasefire violations along Jammu and Kashmir in 2013 till now," a defence spokesman said today.

Of the 120 incidents of firing from across the border, 98 ceasefire violations have taken place in Jammu region along the LoC in South of Pir Panahcal ranges while others have taken place along the border in Kashmir, he said.

The ceasefire violations are highest this year than the past five years. There were 93 violations of the 2003 ceasefire by Pakistan along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2012, 51 in 2011 and on 44 occasions in 2010, according to the defence ministry.

In 2009, the Pakistani troops violated ceasefire 28 times, while on 77 occasions in 2008, 21 in 2007 and 3 in 2006.

Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said in a tweet that security forces were now in control of all floors in the building.The official death toll now stands at 62 and more than 170 have been injured.

19:35Egypt court bans Muslim Brotherhood: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was banned from carrying out any activities in the country and its assets confiscated by a court today, in a body blow to Islamists who have been vehemently protesting President Mohammed Morsi's ouster by the powerful army.

"The court bans the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation and its non-governmental organisation and all the activities that it participates in and any organisation derived from it," said the presiding judge Mohammed al-Sayed.

Two complaints against Munshi and ballistic expert Prem Kumar Manocha were filed by the Delhi High Court registrar before the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidya Prakash on the basis of March 22 high court order directing their prosecution for perjury.

19:23EC for 24X7 vigil against paid news in run up to polls: The Election Commission today said an effective mechanism including a round-the-clock monitoring system will be put in place to check cases of paid news in the run up to the assembly elections in Delhi slated for November.

ECI Director General Akshay Rout said the poll panel will soon hold discussions with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on how to check the growing incidents of paid news.

18:00 Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to use his good offices to ensure safety of Indian victims in the Nairobi terror attack, which has left 69 people dead so far.

In a letter to the PM, Modi said, "I stressfully urge that the central government should use all the resources available to it to provide safety and security to families of those Indians and Gujaratis who are victims of the terror attack." "Among those killed and injured in the terror attack, Indians are also victims and have lost lives and some of them are also injured. This inhuman act has put many Indian origin families in insecure position and they expect help from Indian government immediately," Modi said

17:36Jagan Reddy granted bail after 14 months in jail:Mohammed Siddique reports from Hyderabad: YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy has been granted bail by a special CBI court in Hyderabad in the disproportionate assets case. He was arrested on 27 May, 2012. The former Kadapa MP was granted bail on surety of Rs 2 lakh.

"We will provide you an update on timing as soon as we can. Teams are working non-stop," it added. Blackberry had earlier announced that it will provide its popular chat application BBM on Android operation system from September 21 and for iPhone users from September 22.

Social media and Internet forums were flooded with claims that the recently divorced Putin had tied the knot with Alina Kabayeva in a secret ceremony.

According to Sky News, the rumours were sparked by Putin's political rival Alexei Navalny, who tweeted that Putin and Kabayeva have married at the Iver Monastery.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the suggestions in a TV interview, calling the rumours 'Internet exercises out of boredom'.

Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, had made a joint announcement revealing they were to separate in a TV appearance in June. Both said the reason for their split was the time-consuming nature of the president's work.

Attacking the SP government over the Muzaffarnagar riots, BJP MP Maneka Gandhi today said party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had "bowed" before UP Cabinet Minister Azam Khan.

"Both father and son have bowed in front of Azam Khan and his likes...this should be taken note of by people," Maneka told reporters in Badaun on a question regarding Khan's alleged involvement in the Muzaffarnagar riots. "Azam will damage the state with his language," Maneka said, adding that dividing communities was not right and the state was "fed up with this discrimination."

A TV channel had aired a sting operation showing alleged political interference in functioning of police during the Muzaffarnagar riots.

Addressing a rally, the member of Lok Sabha from Gurgaon said he would not contest the next elections from Congress as he was upset with the"existing circumstances" in the party.

"I have been in the Congress for 35 years, but under the existing circumstances, I won't contest elections from the Congress party, and I also bid bye to Congress politics," the 63-year-old leader said.

16:23Life sentence is unfair, unjust: Bo Xilai : Fallen Chinese leader Bo Xilai reacted angrily, shouting "unfair" and "unjust", when a Chinese court gave him life sentence in a corruption case, before he was forcibly taken out of the courtroom.

Bo, 64, erupted in anger after the judge in Jinan Intermediate People's Court on Sunday sentenced him for corruption and abuse of power.

The former Politburo member yelled out 'Unfair!' and 'Unjust!' in an explosive ending to one of China's most politically charged trials.

16:15More attempts will be made to polarise: Omar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today voiced apprehensions that more attempts would be made in the country to weaken the social fabric and to polarise communities in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Appealing to political parties to desist from dividing communities, the chief minister spoke candidly about the recent communal violence in Kishtwar area of his state and in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Omar told the National Integration Council chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the riots in Kishtwar were unfortunate although the area had been free from communal trouble for the last four years.

During the meeting, which was convened to discuss the growing incidents of communal violence, attack on women and atrocities on SCs and STs, Naidu wanted to raise the issue of Telangana and bring the central government's attention to the continuous protests in Seem-Andhra region against the bifurcation move.

Naidu said when he raised the issue, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi objected to it and told him that the NIC was not the forum to discuss the Telangana issue.

15:22Muzaffarnagar riots: 'No case against Azam Khan': In the backdrop of demands for the arrest of state cabinet minister Azam Khan in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots, a senior SP leader today said no case or FIR had been registered against him and there was no basis for his arrest.

"No case has been registered against Azam Khan in connection with the violence in Muzaffarnagar, nor has he been named in any FIR. On what basis should he be arrested," National General Secretary Ramasre Kushwaha told reporters.

He was replying to a query that only leaders of BJP and other parties were being arrested for their alleged role in the riots, though there were allegations of Khan's involvement too.

During these phone calls, Vahanvati was told to stop pursuing coal scam-related cases and stop appearing in Supreme Court in connection with the cases.

The woman also asked the AG to resign.

The seven calls were made between September 5 and September 19.

Interestingly, the issue of missing files in the coal scam is coming up before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The IB, the CBI and Delhi police have been asked to investigate the hoax calls.

15:03Kerala wedding age row: Politicians, women's group protest : Cutting across political and religious lines, political leaders and women campaigners in Kerala have come out strongly against some Muslim outfits' move to approach the Supreme Court, seeking to get the marriageable age of girls in the community lowered from 18.

Dubbing this as a backward step which would harm the interests of the community in general and women in particular, they said this move is a conscious attempt by vested interests to restrict the freedom of women by 'sabotaging' their education, social advancement and economic self-reliance.

Nine Muslim religious outfits had met in Kozhikode last week and resolved to approach the apex court to seek the exemption, arguing that setting a minimum age limit went against the Muslim Personal Law.

The 64-year-old doctor, who was the head of surgery at the Bundaberg Hospital in southern Queensland, is facing trial in the Brisbane District Court for unnecessarily removing patient Ian Rodney Vowels's colon during the surgery in 2004.

It took nearly an hour for a jury to be selected.

14:18High time to address issue of gun violence: Obama: US President Barack Obama today joined the memorial service of the family members of those who were recently killed in the Navy Yard shootout and said that the nation can no longer accept such horrific shootouts and it is high time the issue of gun violence is addressed.

"We can't accept this. As Americans bound in grief and love, we must insist here today there is nothing normal about innocent men and women being gunned down where they work. There is nothing normal about our children being gunned down in their classrooms. There is nothing normal about children dying in our streets from stray bullets," Obama said.

14:15Vote bank politics responsible for communal tension: MP CM: Holding that vote bank politics was a major factor behind communal frenzy, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said one group or organisation should not be made a scapegoat and held responsible for such instances.

He also expressed his concern over the spread of cyber terrorism and crimes through social media platforms and advocated an effective law to check the menace.

"Our view is that justice is for everybody, opportunities are for everyone and refusal to no one. Our vision is clear. We believe that the immediate frenzy of communalism has a root in vote bank politics," he said.

13:40Communal violence cannot be allowed to spread: Nitish : Cautioning against forces who fan communal tension in order to polarise the situation in their favour, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today voiced concern over the Muzaffarnagar riots and said such violence cannot be allowed to spread.

Speaking at the National Integration Council, Kumar, whose party JD-U snapped its 17-year-old ties with BJP in June to protest against Narendra Modi's elevation, asked whether competitive politics should necessarily lead to passionate persuasion of a "divisive agenda".

A case of rioting was registered against Rana and others in connection with an incident in Shamli on June 16 this year, police sources said, adding a warrant has been issued to Rana.

On June 16, a girl was allegedly kidnapped and gangraped, following which hundreds of people including Suresh Rana staged a protest and damaged shops and vehicles, demanding the arrest of the accused.

13:37Lankan court orders release of 35 TN fishermen : A Sri Lankan court today ordered the release of 35 fishermen who were arrested by the Lankan Navy in August, officials said. The fishermen from Pamban South area were arrested on August 25 for allegedly fishing in the Lankan sea zone.

They were produced before Puthalam Court Magistrate Pasis, who ordered their release, fisheries department officials said.

13:25Aadhar not mandatory for govt services: Supreme Court: In a setback to the central government, the Supreme Court on Monday stated that possession of an Aadhar card was not mandatory for availing essential government services like marriage registration, provident fund account and gas connection.

Both central and state governments had attempted to make Aadhar card compulsory for various government amenities.

The agency has also summoned Gujarat Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, former minister Praful Patel and Advocate General Kamal Trivedi for questioning.

12:42Modi's claim of 8.4 pc growth FALSE: Chidambaram: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today charged Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with staging a "fake encounter with facts" regarding his claims of economic growth during the BJP-led NDA regime being 8.4 per cent and said nothing can be farther from the truth.

"The average for the six year period (under Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1998-99 to 2003-04) was 6.0 per cent and the average for the last five years (1999-2000 to 2003-04) was 5.9 per cent," he said in a statement.

12:09Sinister motive behind communal riots: Home minister : Voicing concern over rise in incidents of communal violence, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said the frequency of riots has suggested that there is a sinister motive behind such clashes and attempts are being made to polarise the society.

He said statistics on the communal violence show an increasing trend in the last two years and minor incidents tend to get escalated into major incidents of violence leading to displacement of affected communities.

11:08Will the peace process work in Manipur?: Manipur, a state severely hit by insurgency, has finally witnessed the beginning of a peace process, with three militant groups signing a memorandum of understanding with the state government.

But major militant groups, including the PLA, PREPAK and the UNLF have stayed away from the peace talks.

After years of violence and bloodshed, will Manipur usher in an era of peace or will this just be another cosmetic gesture?

11:00Militants strike in Srinagar, kill CISF jawan:Mukhtar Ahmad reports from Srinagar: A jawan of Central Industrial Security Force was killed and another critically injured in a militant attack at Hazuribagh, in the heart of Srinagar, on Monday.

Militants fired at the two jawans from a close range, injuring them critically, said a senior police official.

The two jawans were rushed to the hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries.

Referring to the Muzaffarnagar riots, he said a minor incident had blown up into a major riot, and added that the state had witnessed several riots in the last three years.

The state government should take strict action against elements fomenting communal tension, said the PM, adding that the administration should ensure an environment in which members of all communities felt safe.

The meeting was held in the backdrop of the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, in which 48 people were killed and over 40,000 rendered homeless.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has decided to skip the meeting.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh, his son and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav are among the attendees.

Before the beginning of the meeting, BJP patriarch L K Advani was seen warmly greeting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Kumar had walked out of the BJP-led NDA due to Modi's elevation within the party.

10:09Rupee down 20 paise against dollar in early trade : The rupee fell by 20 paise to 62.43 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on demand from importers for the US currency amid a lower opening in the domestic market.

Forex dealers said besides fresh demand for the American currency from importers, a hike of 25 basis points in key lending rates by the Reserve Bank on Friday and a lower opening in the equity market mainly put pressure on the rupee but dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas limited the fall.

Addressing a public rally as part of his Gaon-Gaon Sampark Yatra, Goel said poor people had been hit the hardest as the application forms and food grains meant for them under the food security scheme were being sold in black by touts.

He also alleged that there is a lack of clarity regarding the eligibility criteria for availing rations.

The state government, meanwhile, sent a letter to the Union home ministry recommending a CBI probe into a rape case.

Three employees at Nagar's official residence were questioned by the CID unit of the state police, a police spokesman said.

09:03V K Singh to file RTI for a copy of army report: Under attack over the purported activities of a secret intelligence unit set up by him, former army chief General V K Singh is planning to seek a copy of the army probe into the functioning of the TSD by filing RTI applications on Monday.

"We are planning to move an RTI application to ask for a copy of that report submitted by the army," his lawyer Vishwajeet Singh said.

On whether the top secret inquiry report could be sought through RTI applications, close aides of V K Singh said if the government could leak the report to the media organisations, it should also be willing to provide it to them as well.